Chapter 14014: Self-Preservation (Thanks to the cute and tall girl +2)
Reaching the steps under the eaves, Qi Shan removed her straw hat, bent down to place her wooden clogs side by side, lifted her robe, and stepped barefoot onto the steps. She took down the water ladle hanging on the wooden pillar, scooped up rainwater from the stone basin under the eaves, and washed the mud off her feet.
Shen Tang also took off her wooden clogs and subconsciously looked for indoor shoes, but couldn't find any to replace them. Qi Shan rolled up the dirty hem of her clothes and tied it to the back of her legs, took out a special handkerchief from her sleeve to wipe the water off her feet, and then handed the water ladle to Shen Tang.
The two men were not slow, and the middle-aged man had already taken off his ill-fitting wooden clogs with worn soles, and stepped barefoot onto the wooden steps, leaving a few wet footprints with mud and water. Although the courtyard was very clean and many places were paved with pebbles, mud puddles would still accumulate when it rained, making it easy to get your feet dirty. Seeing Shen Tang and the other man busy with their work, he smiled and spoke up.
"Please make yourselves at home, there's no need for such formalities."
Upon hearing the man's words, Shen Tang rinsed her feet with two ladles, laughed, threw the ladles into the stone basin, and stepped onto the wooden steps with two loud thuds.
Qi Shan's words carried a hint of sternness.
"Young Pear, where is your manners?"
Shen Tang smiled and waved to him: "Isn't it said that when a guest is a guest, he should follow the host's lead? Brother, you're being too polite. Why don't you come up and take shelter from the rain?"
Qi Shan took a deep breath, seemingly helpless against Shen Tang's actions, and turned to apologize to the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man, however, was very well-mannered, maintaining a smile and repeatedly saying "it's nothing," without showing the slightest displeasure on his face. Instead, he praised Shen Tang for her genuine and lively nature.
Qi Shan sighed, "But my younger brother is already twelve this year, and he's still so impulsive and unreliable. I'm worried he'll suffer a great loss in the future..."
The middle-aged man's expression froze slightly.
"My younger brother? Is this a young man?"
Qi Shan nodded: "Yes, he is the youngest brother in the family. He looks like my mother, and because he has a feminine appearance, he has caused a lot of misunderstandings over the years."
The middle-aged man chuckled twice, admitting that he had misjudged the man and mistaken him for a woman.
He then led the two to a side room, telling them to wait for the rain there, and if the rain didn't stop, they could stay overnight.
The middle-aged man suddenly said, "I just remembered there's a pot of ginger soup keeping warm in the east kitchen. Why don't you two have some ginger soup to warm yourselves up?"
Qi Shan clasped her hands in thanks to the middle-aged man.
The man said, "Please wait a moment, both of you."
As the footsteps faded into the distance, Shen Tang put away her playful smile and became serious and solemn: "This person is lying, and there are flaws all over him. Whether he went to the east kitchen to get ginger soup or not, we have to be careful."
Qi Shan: "Of course we must be vigilant. The village head said that Ayan has a brain disease and was abandoned at the manor since birth, neglected and ignored, which is why the servants are often negligent, as can be seen from the baby clothes drying in the yard. Yet this person claims that Ayan is his son, ha!"
Shen Tang wandered around the room, occasionally touching the decorations with her fingers. Her fingertips were clean and dust-free.
Near the latticed window stood two neatly arranged desks, one large and one small, with bookshelves serving as partitions to divide the room into several different areas. Shen Tang casually picked up a bamboo scroll from the desk, opened it, and found it was for children's early education, containing both adult handwriting and children's doodles.
She said, "The cleaning is quite thorough, and it seems that the servants are not completely idle... It's just that in this heavy rain, with wind and rain strong enough to blow the thatched hut into the sky, no one came out to bring in the clothes drying in the yard, which is very unreasonable."
Qi Shan said calmly, "Also, that man is dressed like a scholar, but he has a fierce appearance, a ruthless gaze, and an aura of bloodlust. He's more like a bandit than a scholar, and he's full of lies—I'm worried that he's not unwilling to take you in, but rather that he's unable to..."
Or rather, they didn't have the life to collect it.
Shen Tang raised an eyebrow: "Are they bandits?"
Qi Shan said, "In times of turmoil, it is not uncommon for people to become outlaws and rob and plunder."
Not only is it not uncommon, but it has even become the only means of livelihood for some people, and can even lead an entire village to "get rich".
"In that case, the odds are against us."
"It's highly likely that none of them will survive; they're either bandits or thieves, but they certainly won't be the owners of this estate."
Instead of finding Ayan, they stumbled upon a murder case.
Shen Tang gasped.
Qi Shan said with amusement, "Young Master Shen, are you scared?"
Even he himself didn't believe what he said.
Shen Tang plopped down on the mat and blinked, saying, "I'm a law-abiding citizen. How could I not be afraid of such a vicious and ruthless criminal who could wipe out an entire family? Mr. Qi, we've entered a wolf's den, we're food for the hungry wolves..."
As he spoke, he pulled out a machete from his waist.
The middle-aged man didn't see the machete because it was hidden by his clothes.
Qi Shan hadn't brought her sword, so the only thing the two of them could rely on was this wood-chopping knife. Holding the hilt, she felt a little safer. Honestly, she couldn't understand why she, a quiet, homebody artist, had to go through something so thrilling.
although--
Although she killed a government official and calmly accepted reality afterward, she believed it was self-defense. In addition, the residual factors in this body caused her, a homebody who couldn't lift a finger or carry anything, to have such a fierce and cold-blooded side.
She is a very friendly person.
After all, what bad intentions could an artist have who is constantly pressured and yelled at by an editor, yet dares not speak out?
Qi Shan: "..."
“We’ve entered a wolf’s den, but who will be the wolf’s meal is still unknown.” When he heard Shen Tang say the words “law-abiding citizens,” his expression went blank. He bluntly contradicted her, laughing, “Law-abiding citizens wouldn’t become fugitives.”
To everyone's surprise, Shen Tang said, "Mr. Qi, you are unaware of my great injustice. If I were to die unjustly on the way to exile, or on some couch in the Xiaocheng Jiaofang, and some upright official were to overturn the case and discover that there was such an innocent person as me, by then I would be gone, leaving only regret. In order to prevent this from happening, and in order to uphold the justice of the law, I must save my life. It is reasonable for me to be a fugitive."
Qi Shan: "..."
Looking at the eloquent young man, he sighed that he was already quite old, yet his skin wasn't as thick as that of a young lad.
Just as she was about to say something, Shen Tang's smile vanished abruptly. She straightened up and looked towards the door, raising her hand to her lips as if to signal Qi Shan to keep quiet. A moment later, heavy footsteps drew closer, and the middle-aged man brought over two bowls of steaming ginger soup.
"I've kept you waiting."
Qi Shan and Shen Tang nodded their thanks.
Under the middle-aged man's gaze, Shen Tang and her companion picked up their bowls, lowered their eyes, and brought them to their lips, about to drink.
Seeing that the two were completely unguarded, the middle-aged man was secretly pleased. But just as a mocking smile was about to appear on his lips, a bowl of steaming ginger soup was thrown at his noodles. Immediately afterward, a low table flew up and smashed into his face.
Qi Shan poured out the soup, and Chen Tang overturned the table.
Then--
Qi Shan quietly retreated behind Shen Tang and calmly said, "Know the male, keep to the female; retreat when things are impossible. This is the way to protect yourself wisely."
Shen Tang: "???"
Shen Tang: "!!!"
This is the second update on the 26th; there will be another update on the 27th.
(End of this chapter)
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